Tennessee's Lofton watches practice

NCAA Tournament - The Beat

March 26, 2008

Tennessee guard Chris Lofton sustained a minor injury to his leg during the Volunteers' win over Butler but is expected to play Thursday against Louisville.

Team spokesman Craig Pinkerton says Lofton wore a walking boot on his foot as the Vols rested Monday. Lofton was at practice Tuesday but did not hit the floor, staying on the sidelines and riding an exercise bicycle.

Pinkerton says Lofton was wearing the walking boot just as a precaution.

Coach Bruce Pearl told The Knoxville News Sentinel that Lofton "tweaked" his ankle in the first half of Tennessee's 76-71 overtime win against Butler in the NCAA tournament.

Lofton, a senior, leads Tennessee scoring with 15.5 points per game.

TV ratings down from '07

Television ratings for the men's NCAA tournament on CBS declined 9 percent from last year.

After four days and 15 telecasts, the games averaged a 4.8 rating and an 11 share in the fast national television ratings, the network said Tuesday. The tournament had a 5.3 rating and 12 share over the same period in 2007. CBS attributed the drop to the Easter weekend.

Fast national ratings are national ratings subject to review. The national ratings are expected Thursday.

A ratings point represents 1.1 million households, or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 109.6 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.

K-State's Beasley mum

Michael Beasley is still grappling with a decision, but his coach expects the Kansas State star freshman to head into the NBA draft.

Frank Martin said on Tuesday he believes the 6-foot-10 power forward, even though he loves college life, will probably opt to turn pro.

"I think he's going to go, and I think it's the right thing to do, because he's going to be the top pick in the draft," Martin said.

"How do you say no to that? How can I sit here and tell that young man that he's wrong to go with that?" the first-year head coach said.